Sizeable drought affecting SNE

[dendrite]

1 hour ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Does anyone know anything about soil moisture readings?

56 cb at 6 inches

62 cb at 12 inches.

Is that dry or normal ?

 

Dry, but nothing epic. Those watermark sensors run from 0 (saturated) to 200 (completely dry).

[CoastalWx]

Wow didn't realize it was that low in 01-02. I do remember those years where it was extremely high. 

[Damage In Tolland]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

Dry, but nothing epic. Those watermark sensors run from 0 (saturated) to 200 (completely dry).

That was WxStem was measuring this morning at the high school

[wxeyeNH]

6 hours ago, dendrite said:

The Winni River at my place is the lowest I've seen it. The pond off of exit 19 is almost dried up. I haven't seen that in 10 years living here. My front yard looks like Tucson. 

Droughts are boring weatherwise but this weather event is now having a bigger impact in people and wildlife than a major storm.  It's kind of a slow mow event.  Dick Brown Pond near me is home to a huge amount of wildlife.  The brook that feeds it stop flowing for the first time last week.  Locals have never seen  that happen.  Now only about 2 feet left in the 30 acre pond.  All the wetlands have dried up.  My 24 baby apple trees are all dying now.  Several neighbors wells have dried up.  My sister in law's family  in Wentworth NH has had to move out of their home, no water for 1 week now.  They are staying at relatives in Plymouth till they get water again.  It really is becoming a major weather event just not the exciting kind we all love to follow.

[Damage In Tolland]

28 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Droughts are boring weatherwise but this weather event is now having a bigger impact in people and wildlife than a major storm.  It's kind of a slow mow event.  Dick Brown Pond near me is home to a huge amount of wildlife.  The brook that feeds it stop flowing for the first time last week.  Locals have never seen  that happen.  Now only about 2 feet left in the 30 acre pond.  All the wetlands have dried up.  My 24 baby apple trees are all dying now.  Several neighbors wells have dried up.  My sister in law's family  in Wentworth NH has had to move out of their home, no water for 1 week now.  They are staying at relatives in Plymouth till they get water again.  It really is becoming a major weather event just not the exciting kind we all love to follow.

And just think back to the posts and posters who said New England can't drought and they aren't ever an issue . 

[dendrite]

4 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

That was WxStem was measuring this morning at the high school

I figured that's where you grabbed it. Those are Watermark soil moisture sensors for the Davis like I have. 

[Damage In Tolland]

Soil moisture this morning:

71cb @12 inches

60 CB @ 6 inches

[BrianW]

1 hour ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Soil moisture this morning:

71cb @12 inches

60 CB @ 6 inches

Have a few friends up your way in the Coventry/Mansfield area with major well water issues. Many wells running dry or very little water flowing.

[Damage In Tolland]

7 hours ago, BrianW said:

Have a few friends up your way in the Coventry/Mansfield area with major well water issues. Many wells running dry or very little water flowing.

Yeah obviously things are more dire in E MA and SE NH, but it's bad everywhere. This is in full shade this time of year 

[alex]

On September 8, 2016 at 5:28 PM, wxeyeNH said:

Droughts are boring weatherwise but this weather event is now having a bigger impact in people and wildlife than a major storm.  It's kind of a slow mow event.  Dick Brown Pond near me is home to a huge amount of wildlife.  The brook that feeds it stop flowing for the first time last week.  Locals have never seen  that happen.  Now only about 2 feet left in the 30 acre pond.  All the wetlands have dried up.  My 24 baby apple trees are all dying now.  Several neighbors wells have dried up.  My sister in law's family  in Wentworth NH has had to move out of their home, no water for 1 week now.  They are staying at relatives in Plymouth till they get water again.  It really is becoming a major weather event just not the exciting kind we all love to follow.

Wow that sucks. I met with a well guy on Friday to get a quote on a new well (I'm adding rental cabins and yurts to my property) and he said they've been swamped with calls from people whose wells are dry. He said he's getting 8-10 calls a day. He also mentioned it's really only a problem for dug wells (which he strongly recommended against either way), and not in the northern areas but still - it's bad. Good thing most of EMA is not well, can't imagine how bad it would be there! Though I know SNH has been very dry too

[Hoth]

1 hour ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Yeah obviously things are more dire in E MA and SE NH, but it's bad everywhere. This is in full shade this time of year 

That is one sad hydrangea.

[wxeyeNH]

18 minutes ago, alex said:

Wow that sucks. I met with a well guy on Friday to get a quote on a new well (I'm adding rental cabins and yurts to my property) and he said they've been swamped with calls from people whose wells are dry. He said he's getting 8-10 calls a day. He also mentioned it's really only a problem for dug wells (which he strongly recommended against either way), and not in the northern areas but still - it's bad. Good thing most of EMA is not well, can't imagine how bad it would be there! Though I know SNH has been very dry too

WMUR channel 9 in Manchester NH has been doing a drought story almost every night.  About a week ago they interviewed a well company in S NH.  At that time he said they were getting over 2 dozen calls per day.

[CoastalWx]

Trees are turning brown and dropping now.

 

Kevin's hydrangea is easily solved by a little watering. 

[Damage In Tolland]

3 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Trees are turning brown and dropping now.

 

Kevin's hydrangea is easily solved by a little watering. 

The point was to show its dry everywhere. Obviously worse in your area. No arguments there. But wells and other issues are occurring all over SNE 

[Lava Rock]

Trees are turning brown and dropping now.

 

Kevin's hydrangea is easily solved by a little watering. 

Have a couple maples that are turning brown

[Damage In Tolland]

This is a fascinating read.. About the drought in CT revealing a bridge buried for over 50 years.

http://www.courant.com/community/colebrook/hc-marteka-colebrook-river-ghost-town-0911-20160910-story.html

[jbenedet]

Heavy rain inbound but this line is cruisin'. SE NH will be lucky to get 0.25" out of this and Boston metro about half of that.

[jbenedet]

Rain already over here. Dry air is now racing in. Maybe a few more traces before 12 pm. That's it.

[jbenedet]

A drop in the bucket...

0.27" Rochester NH

0.20" Portsmouth NH

0.13" Manchester NH

0.03" Boston MA

And no significant rain in the forecast for at least the next 7 days.

 

 

[nesussxwx]

I know this thread is mainly for SNE, but I might as well chime in from down here. Trees are turning brown. Leaves dropping way earlier then expected. No significant rain for the whole northeastern region for the next week or so. Drought will most likely worsen in SNE. Record dry summer around the Boston area.

[Lava Rock]

Is there any hint of a pattern change?

[BrianW]

21 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

This is a fascinating read.. About the drought in CT revealing a bridge buried for over 50 years.

http://www.courant.com/community/colebrook/hc-marteka-colebrook-river-ghost-town-0911-20160910-story.html

Great article. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

But this summer was different. Levels of the lake have dropped to historic lows due to the drought. And much of the northern portion of the lake resembles a barren desert.

And the iron span — known as Harvey Mountain Bridge — has taken its rightful place again, spanning the sliver of river that still flows through the area. During my visit last week, people marveled at the old iron bridge. Some old-timers came with shocked faces, noting they had never seen the water level so low. Others walked their dogs across like it was some kind of daily ritual for all these years.

 

[Damage In Tolland]

Dendrite

12 in. 87 CB 

6 in. 67 CB 

Is that getting there?

[powderfreak]

On September 11, 2016 at 4:10 PM, UnionWX said:

No significant rain for the whole northeastern region for the next week or so. 

Looks like mainly the I95 portion of the northeast...PA/NY/NNE should see a couple rounds of rain this week.  

But it is crazy how the atmosphere is engineering anyway to miss the general coastal plain regions with any meaningful rain.  

The exact opposite of the snowfall anomalies the past few winter haha.

[powderfreak]

22 hours ago, BrianW said:

Great article. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

But this summer was different. Levels of the lake have dropped to historic lows due to the drought. And much of the northern portion of the lake resembles a barren desert.

And the iron span — known as Harvey Mountain Bridge — has taken its rightful place again, spanning the sliver of river that still flows through the area. During my visit last week, people marveled at the old iron bridge. Some old-timers came with shocked faces, noting they had never seen the water level so low. Others walked their dogs across like it was some kind of daily ritual for all these years.

 

That's awesome!  So cool.

[Damage In Tolland]

51 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Looks like mainly the I95 portion of the northeast...PA/NY/NNE should see a couple rounds of rain this week.  

But it is crazy how the atmosphere is engineering anyway to miss the general coastal plain regions with any meaningful rain.  

The exact opposite of the snowfall anomalies the past few winter haha.

I have a sneaking gut feeling this basic idea continues this winter. Not that it won't snow in SNE.. But I think you guys are going to clean up this year while we remain BN precip wise 

[powderfreak]

13 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

I have a sneaking gut feeling this basic idea continues this winter. Not that it won't snow in SNE.. But I think you guys are going to clean up this year while we remain BN precip wise 

I'm too snake bitten to even offer an unbiased opinion on snows at this point haha... I like to think one of these winters we will have a better showing relative to other areas on the East Coast.

I could also see it switch and start seeing more high QPF events closer to the coast line as we go into the cold season.  Maybe Ma Nature is saving up the precip for you guys?

I will fully admit I poo-poo'd your drought posts back in May and June, but of all the summers you have been on the drought train this one is pretty impressive now.  That bridge story is insanely cool.  

[Damage In Tolland]

10 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

I'm too snake bitten to even offer an unbiased opinion on snows at this point haha... I like to think one of these winters we will have a better showing relative to other areas on the East Coast.

I could also see it switch and start seeing more high QPF events closer to the coast line as we go into the cold season.  Maybe Ma Nature is saving up the precip for you guys?

I will fully admit I poo-poo'd your drought posts back in May and June, but of all the summers you have been on the drought train this one is pretty impressive now.  That bridge story is insanely cool.  

To have a drought as serious as this over such an expansive area in SNE is pretty incredible IMO. Considering our proximity to the ocean and mid latitude location , it's pretty wild to see it get this bad. And as dry as it is IMBY.. To think I've seen twice the qpf that SE NH and EMA have seen since June is mind boggling. June was uber dry here, but July was ok and AUG we were about N. And Sept has seen .50 or under so far over a very large area. I never was a big believer in climate change and still am not ,but I do admit that something is going on . Hopefully winter turns wet even if it means rainers here and snows up north 

[CoastalWx]

It's not climate change most likely. Everyone had been used to our very wet summers. Regression is a b**ch. We had some serious droughts in the 60s. 

[Damage In Tolland]

15 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

It's not climate change most likely. Everyone had been used to our very wet summers. Regression is a b**ch. We had some serious droughts in the 60s. 

The last 3-4 summers have been dry overall in SNE.

This drought actually began in 2013